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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25614283">Aurora</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/YonakaNoYuna/pseuds/YonakaNoYuna'>YonakaNoYuna</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Affairs, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Badass Katara (Avatar), Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Friends to Lovers, Married Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Minor Aang/Katara, Minor Mai/Zuko, Mutual Pining, POV Katara (Avatar), POV Zuko (Avatar), Post-Canon, Romance, Slow Burn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:08:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,927</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25614283</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/YonakaNoYuna/pseuds/YonakaNoYuna</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After helping the Southern Watertribe rebuild, training a new generation of Waterbenders and marrying the Avatar, Katara comes to realize she's missing something in life. Sometimes loving someone just isn't enough. Zutara.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katara/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katara settled back in her chair in Republic City’s government hall, crossing her arms with impatience as she waited for the council meeting to start. Aang shot her an apologetic look that she answered with a veneer of patience, careful to hide the part of her that loathed being cooped up at a meeting during her thirty-second birthday.<br/>
<br/>
She sighed, combed a hand through her hair and glanced at Aang. He was halfway down the room, talking to one of the council members. From the way he was standing, she could tell he wasn’t having a pleasant conversation. She considered rescuing him… Then again, Katara didn’t exactly have a pleasant day herself.<br/>
<br/>
She deluded herself into thinking Aang had a special surprise planned for her when he picked her up out of the blue from the South Pole. He used to do such things; show up out of nowhere and go penguin sledding with her. Or take her to Kiyoshi Island to ride the Unagi, which she would promptly talk him out of. It didn’t matter that they were in their thirties. Aang always found ways to let her feel like they were kids again, going on a grand adventure.<br/>
<br/>
Leaning her chin in her hand, Katara heaved another sigh and looked out of the window. The sky over the fledgling Republic City was colored a perfect azure, marred only by a single tuft of white that scuttled across the blue. In the distance, the foundation for a great bridge was built, alongside an ostentatious looking golden building.<br/>
<br/>
Perhaps her melancholy had little to do with Aang’s attentions, or lack thereof, and more with her own inertia. She was a master Waterbender before her eighteenth birthday, helped save the world from Ozai and defeated Azula in battle alongside Zuko, helped rebuild her village on the South Pole and taught new Waterbenders how to defend themselves and heal others. Yet, most of the world knew her as the Avatar’s wife.<br/>
<br/>
Her mouth twisted into a sardonic smile. Was this just jealousy? Aang spent most of his time bringing balance back to the world, flying across the globe to guide the newly freed Earth Kingdom along with the reformed Fire Nation, quelling dissidents and riots across both nations. While he tried to spend as much time with her as possible, duty called and unlike those good old days, she couldn’t always tag along with him.<br/>
<br/>
As another council member stepped inside, Earth Kingdom, judging by the green outfit, Aang turned to her once more. He considered her for a while, rubbing through his beard in contemplation, reached into his orange robes and pulled something from them. Curious, she raised an eyebrow at him.<br/>
<br/>
An enormous grin tugged on his lips as he hunched forward, as though showing her something secret… only for him to start his marble trick. She stared at him, unimpressed. In return, his grin broadened until he was a perfect mirror of his 12-year-old past self. Unable to help herself, her mouth twitched into a smile that faded rapidly when Aang pocketed the marbles and turned away from her again.<br/>
<br/>
‘It’s not enough,’ she thought.<br/>
<br/>
Katara bolted upright in her chair. Eyes wide, she scanned the room as though fearful that someone could read her mind. Her heart thumped hard in her chest as she stared at the wooden table in front of her, tracing the grain of the wood as she considered the treacherous notion. What wasn’t enough? Wasn’t she enough? Was it Aang? Their entire marriage?<br/>
<br/>
She loved him. It hadn’t been love at first sight, nor had she regarded him as relationship material until he confessed to her, but she loved him nonetheless and happily agreed to marry him when he proposed. But somehow along the way, she forgot how much of a burden Aang carried on his shoulders and how much of his life was shared with thousands of others. She hadn’t mind at first—Aang would regularly leave for weeks if not months in a row to help set up the new Air Temples and teach about Air Nomad culture, or aid the build of Republic City. He spent so much time with the rest of the world that there seemed too little time left for her when he finally returned.<br/>
<br/>
‘<em>Not enough</em>.’<br/>
<br/>
“You look pathetic,” a familiar voice roused her from her thoughts.<br/>
<br/>
“Thanks Toph,” she shot back, watching as Toph dropped into the chair next to her with a loud clang. She paused. “How so?”<br/>
<br/>
“I dunno,” Toph said, waving a hand in front of her unseeing eyes. She chuckled. “Really, Katara, after 18 years you’d think you’d learn.” Toph leaned back, crossed her legs over the table and tilted her chair back. “Fine. You feel pathetic. What’s up?”<br/>
<br/>
Resisting the urge to tip the chair enough for Toph to fall, Katara scrubbed her eyes with her palms. “I don’t know.”<br/>
<br/>
“Twinkle Toes not making you happy?”<br/>
<br/>
She glared at Toph, who had busied herself burrowing a finger in her nose. She could actually see it poking around. Truly, some things never change. “That’s not it.”<br/>
<br/>
“You forget I can tell when people are lying,” Toph pointed out, rolling her booger into a ball before shooting it away. Katara eyed it with distaste. “You should talk to him.”<br/>
<br/>
“He’s not making me unhappy.”<br/>
<br/>
“Clever,” Toph grinned. “But not what I said.”<br/>
<br/>
“I wasn’t trying to be clever,” Katara said, voice soft. “I just… I can’t put my finger on it.”<br/>
<br/>
“He’s away a lot. When you’re together, something always distracts him. You’re, what, thirty-two years old and you always told us you wanted to be a mom someday.” Toph turned to her. “It’s alright, you know. Sometimes, lives and ambitions don’t match up. It happens even after a long time together. The best thing to do is talk to Twinkle Toes.”<br/>
<br/>
“When did you grow up to be so wise?” Katara raised an eyebrow.<br/>
<br/>
Toph snorted. “Please.”<br/>
<br/>
“I’m serious.”<br/>
<br/>
“Look around, Katara. The world changed and so have we. You’ve just spent most of your time at the South Pole and missed it.” Toph turned to her, milky eyes sharp. “Are you staying?”<br/>
<br/>
“I wasn’t planning to,” Katara answered truthfully. “But… Maybe I should.”<br/>
<br/>
Toph nodded. “Stay. We’re all in the city these days.” She stifled a yawn. “Even Zuko is coming.”<br/>
<br/>
“He is?” Katara asked, curious.<br/>
<br/>
“Something about the new council member. The old one from the Fire Nation resigned… or died or something. Bet the new one is a hoot.”<br/>
<br/>
“Toph!” Katara said, scandalized, though unable to hide her smile.<br/>
<br/>
“So yeah, stay, catch up, talk to Aang.” Toph stayed quiet for a long spell. “It’ll be good to catch up with you. It’s been a while.”<br/>
<br/>
Katara didn’t miss the hint of vulnerability in Toph’s voice. “Alright. I’ll stay for a while.”<br/>
<br/>
“Good,” Toph grinned. “I’ll see you later.” With that, she stood from her chair and strode toward the exit.<br/>
<br/>
Katara watched her go, glimpsing the city beyond the door, and turned back to Aang to contemplate him. Toph was right; she <em> had </em> dreams and ambitions and they were on hold while she waited and waited for Aang to be ready, but there never would be a perfect moment in which everything would come together. She needed to talk to him, to see where they both stood.<br/>
<br/>
It wasn’t perfect. Their relationship wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t an all-consuming fire that scorched her with its passion and intensity. It wasn’t at all like the tattered romance novels she found under Gran-Gran’s bed when she was younger. But it was comfortable and familiar, and she loved Aang.<br/>
<br/>
She <em> loved </em> Aang.<br/>
<br/>
Resolving to speak to Aang, Katara sat straight in her chair and peered out of the window, wondering how to breach the subject with him.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zuko, Lord of the Fire Nation and, more recently, de facto Steward of Republic City, looked out the window toward where Republic City was located. The hour was early; the city itself was shrouded in a silver mist that clung to the massive buildings. Behind the blue-hued mountains, a hint of pre-dawn pink streaking through the sky just as the first golden hued rays kissed the water in the bay.<br/>
<br/>
He gave into a tongue-curling yawn as his airship began the descent toward the city and sat upright. Despite the early hour, the sunrise always made him feel like a man reborn. Once, he had told Katara he rose with the sun. Perhaps that statement was accurate in more ways than one.<br/>
<br/>
Beside him, Izumi stirred lightly.<br/>
<br/>
He watched his daughter with a fond smile as she hopped off her seat and wandered to the window, little hands clutching the frame as she pulled herself up high enough to see the view. “Are we almost there, daddy?”<br/>
<br/>
“Almost,” he said, voice thick with sleep.<br/>
<br/>
A look of mild disappointment crossed Izumi’s face, but she tucked it away and turned back to the scenery. Truly, in some ways, she felt like a younger version of Azula rather than him. Even at age six, she was ever composed and calm, the picture perfect Fire Nation child, if not for her propensity to call him ‘<em>daddy</em>’ rather than father (something, Zuko had to admit, he quite liked, despite his advisors pleading with him to teach her otherwise).<br/>
<br/>
She even had Azula’s features; though she wore her hair down, the thick, glossy black hair immaculate. It was a miracle of the modern world to see a child her age with not a hair out of place, or so he thought. Her royal garments were without folds and creases, her shoes shined to perfection. But instead of her mother’s green eyes and olive skin, Izumi had inherited his gold eyes and pale complexion. Her smile, however, her smile was all Jin’s.<br/>
<br/>
Izumi arched a brow. “I thought it would be bigger.”<br/>
<br/>
“It is still being built,” Zuko pointed out, somewhat miffed by his daughter’s assertion. He gave the city another scrutinizing look. Though his rebuttal was, by all means, true, he had expected that infernal bridge to have been finished by now. There was little doubt in his mind that his lead engineer was to blame for this. The man was a genius by all accounts, but he had the temperament of a Platypus bear. Heaving a sigh, Zuko made a mental note to visit the bridge crew later that day.<br/>
<br/>
“What are we going to do in the city, daddy?” Izumi asked, trodding back to her seat.</p>
<p>“I have a few meetings planned with the Avatar and construction crews. Chen will look after you.” Zuko said, struggling to keep his face impassive as he watched her face fall. She didn’t like being left alone ever since Jin passed away, but he couldn’t justify taking her into construction zones or bringing her into meetings to discuss the violent uprising of gangs in the fledgeling city. One day she would have to hold those meetings by herself, but he wasn’t about to expose her to the intricacies of politics just yet.<br/>
<br/>
“I understand,” Izumi said, some enthusiasm in her voice faded.<br/>
<br/>
He leaned closer. “There is a dinner planned with the Avatar and some of my friends. I’ll ask Chen to bring you if you promise to be good.”<br/>
<br/>
She perked up at that. “Will Uncle Sokka be there?”<br/>
<br/>
“He will.”<br/>
<br/>
Izumi nodded but said nothing more. Inwardly, he smiled. As the first person of Team Avatar to have a child, all of his friends had coddled Izumi, but she always had a special weakness for Sokka. In truth, he was rather sure she liked to press his buttons. Zuko couldn’t be more proud.<br/>
<br/>
After the aircraft safely touched the ground, Zuko wasted no time in getting up from his seat. While he busied himself stretching his limbs, Izumi took another peek out the window. “Aunt Katara is here!” she gasped.<br/>
<br/>
Surprised, he bent over and peered out, spotting Katara immediately. She was chatting with one of the civil servants who had come to the airfield, undoubtedly to welcome him to the city. Her brown hair whipped in the wind. She brushed it aside with impatience and looked up to meet his gaze. Her annoyed expression melted, a smile blooming on her lips as she raised her arm to greet him.<br/>
<br/>
He returned the wave and ushered Izumi out, climbing down the stairs after her. He watched his daughter make her way to Katara, wrapping her small arms around his old friend. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here,” Zuko said, a smile tugging at his lips. “Last I heard you were in the South Pole.”<br/>
<br/>
“Why?” Katara asked, a reciprocating smile in place. She crossed her arms. “Did you look forward to hunting down the Avatar by yourself?”<br/>
<br/>
He didn’t miss the little joke, though Izumi clearly had. “Daddy is meeting Avatar Aang for a meeting later, isn’t that right, daddy?”<br/>
<br/>
“You’re right,” Zuko said, laying a hand on his daughter’s shoulder.<br/>
<br/>
Katara cocked her head at him. “You look good. Tired, but good.”<br/>
<br/>
“Long trip,” he sighed, glancing back at the airship. “Even with it’s upgraded engines, it’s still a three-day trip to the Fire Nation capital.”</p>
<p>“You should try flying to the South Pole,” Katara chucked. “That’ll take a week.” She eyed him, looking for permission. Zuko stepped closer, opening his arms wide enough for her to step in and give him a quick hug. Ever since he had been made Fire Lord, Katara had been the one to struggle with his new role the most, as though she wasn’t certain where the boundaries for their friendship were. As far as Zuko was concerned, there weren’t any. The Fire Nation expected him to act a certain way as Fire Lord and one of his first actions in his new capacity was to overturn most of the ancient and outdated traditions and rules of etiquette.<br/>
<br/>
Still, over the past decade, he had only seen Katara a few times a year, if that. To his shame, there was little time for him to go to the South Pole, apart from his visit in his first year, in which he had apologized in person for what he had done during his search for Aang and sent builders to help rebuild the tribe.<br/>
<br/>
“Have you moved to Republic City?” Zuko asked as she stepped back, raising an arm to greet Chen who scurried toward him with haste. “I thought it would take Aang longer to have that conversation with you.”<br/>
<br/>
The smile fell from her face. “What conversation?”<br/>
<br/>
He cursed inwardly. “Never mind. I haven’t gotten much sleep,” he answered, but he could tell he wasn’t fooling her. Katara narrowed her eyes at him in that special way that felt like she could look right through him. He exhaled. “Aang said he was considering moving to Republic City and that he would talk to you about it.”<br/>
<br/>
“Really?” she said. “He has said nothing to me. What a surprise.”<br/>
<br/>
The tone in her voice suggested it wasn’t a surprise at all. He pretended to miss it for now, but filed it away for later. “When did you arrive?”<br/>
<br/>
“A week ago,” Katara said, placing her hands on her hips. “I decided to stay for a while. The Southern Watertribe is doing fine without me and I’ve missed everyone. Thought I’d explore this utopia you’re trying to create.”<br/>
<br/>
Chen reached them. “Fire Lord Zuko,” he bowed deeply. “And Princess Izumi. How may I be of assistance?”<br/>
<br/>
“I have some meetings to attend. Take care of Izumi and bring her to Air Temple Island around sunset; we’ll be attending a dinner there together.”<br/>
<br/>
“My Lord,” Chen said, bowing again. Izumi turned to give him a quick hug and walked off with Chen, pointing at something she had seen in the distance. As he turned to Katara, he found the younger woman staring at his daughter with a fond smile adorning her lips.<br/>
<br/>
“She’s grown,” Katara remarked.<br/>
<br/>
“Too fast,” he agreed, straightening his robes.<br/>
<br/>
“Well,” Katara smiled, spinning back to him. “I’m sure you have a busy schedule for the day…” She folded her arms together behind her back. “I’ll leave you to it.”<br/>
<br/>
“I do, but I’d like to have breakfast first,” Zuko said, sensing she was about to leave. It had been months if not years since he had seen her last, and it seemed she was carrying a heavy burden. What were friends for if not to help carry some of the weight? “What do you say?<br/>
<br/>
Katara peeked at him over her shoulder. “Are you sure?”<br/>
<br/>
“I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t.”<br/>
<br/>
“Fine,” Katara said, prodding him in his shoulder. “But it’s your treat, Hotman.”<br/>
<br/>
Zuko groaned. “I told you not to call me that.”<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Katara said in a tone that told him she was everything but apologetic. “I forgot how much you loathe being called Hotman.”<br/>
<br/>
He returned her grin with one of his own. How strange that being around her would make him feel like he was eighteen years old again, free to stand and go as he pleased, as though all the responsibilities and etiquette that chained him as a Fire Lord dropped him. “Lead the way,” he said, struggling to keep the laugh off his face. “Waterpeasant.”<br/>
<br/>
The glare she sent his way and the splash of water that suddenly coated his face was a price he happily paid for the insult. Thoroughly amused, Zuko trailed after Katara into Republic City.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>⊙︿⊙</p>
<p>Seems I can only write really short chappies.(/ω＼) next one will definitely be longer!!! </p>
<p>More to come! Please consider leaving a comment or (shamelessly stole this from another writer!) emoji</p>
<p>♡ Yuna</p>
<p>👌 - Cool!<br/>😍 - Love it<br/>😦 - Curious to see what happens next<br/>🙏 - Please write more<br/>💅 - Try harder Aang<br/>🔥 - Hi Fire Daddy</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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